He, She and It: A Novel

Marge Piercy's reworking of tale of the Golem, a clay Frankensteinian monster created to protect the Jewish ghetto is brilliant. I didn't actually like it the first reading--not because it isn't good but because the character of Shira is so painful to follow and the dystopian future is so bleak and cruel. But reading it a second time, I just fell in love with this novel and as always, I'm amazed at how far-seeing and perceptive Piercy always is in her books.Shira is an employee of a multi (multinational corporation) and to be employed means living inside a protected area away from hellish radiation and pollution, organ pirates and vat-created algae slop food one step from starvation. But your soul literally belongs to these conglomerates: your religion is the corporate faith whatever that is, your psychology is analyzed for traits harmful to the firm and your rating determines your rights. Parties are just a place to brush up your image and strive for a promotion. Shira does good work but it never seems to pay off and her husband, higher ranked, is a nasty piece of work. When Shira loses her child in a vicious divorce, she goes home to an independent city inside a shield but outside the multi control. There she helps create a cyborg whose job it is to protect the town of Tikva and who is so perfectly created that Shira cannot resist him. Yod is the 10th such cyborg and Shira and her grandmother Malkah work to polish his skills. Meanwhile Shira's estranged mother is a notorious cyber-pirate, bestowing havoc on the multis with a price on her head.The novel intertwines the story of Yod and Shira (and definitely, someone who wrote The Matrix must have read this novel and swiped the virtual world concept almost unaltered) with a retelling of the story of the Rabbi of Prague and the Golem, a creature of clay who protects the Jews from the onslaughts of the gentiles and their hatred.I really liked the end. Lots of surprises and twists.

Shira works for a large Multi (a domed city in the ruins of the world that houses a specific corporation - in Shira's case the Y-S Corporation), and has recently split up with her husband Josh and is involved in an ugly custody battle over their son Ari. Shira blames herself for going the conventional way of marriage and childbirth for part of her problems. But when the Y-S Multi grants full custody of Ari to Josh, and then moves them offworld to Pacifica Platform where she cannot visit, Shira gives up all hope and returns to her hometown, the free city of Tikva near the volatile and poisoned seas. She's welcomed back by her grandmother Malkah, who raised her from birth rather than her natural mother Riva. Malkah works with old Avram, on accessing the Base (or Net) and has been secretly building a cyborg to be as human as possible.Shira has to deal with old feelings, a very young and strong love, for Avram's son Gadi, also back in Tikva for some legal reasons involving the "stimmies" he creates. (like virtual reality games). Shira is distracted from Gadi by the presence of Yod, Avram and Malkah's cyborg. She forms a deep love for Yod as she helps along with his programming. But Y-S has learned of Yod, and will use any means necessary, even Shira's son Ari, to get their hands on him.Interspersed throughout the storyline are tales that Malkah has programmed for Yod to read, of Prague in 1600 and a scientist named Jonah who created a golem made from clay to protect the ghettos from the pogroms. Like Yod falling for Shira, so did Joseph the golem fall for Jonah's granddaughter Chava.'He, She, And It' is a unique novel of open prejudices. Human feelings abound, even amongst the non-human characters. The characterizations and descriptions are terrific, but the storyline is a little slow, and the ending far too drawn out to be climactic at all. I enjoyed 'He, She, And It' because is was written with a good melding of SciFi and love story. I recommend the book but don't expect to be able to zip through it. Enjoy!

What a read. Truly astonishing on many levels with such rich characters. And a really good story set in an uncomfortable yet sadly all too probable future. The books great strength is to have many fascinating twists and turns that all have a point and something to say about us and what we do to each other and our world.

Why do publishers use different titles for different countries? I'd already read this book, and, whilst it is wonderful, it was disappointing to realise I had already read it under a different title.

Jewish history is fraught with oppression and violence and Marge Piercy interweaves a future vision and a past remembrance into the retelling of a fundamental moral dilemma: can we ever justify the dehumanization of any group or individual. By making her protagonists Jewish, Ms Piercy creates a particularly ironic and complex set of circumstances in which to debate this seemingly eternal question.The juxtaposition of the science fiction and the conventional history with its mythic twist is played out very cleverly. I found the entire story completely engaging and thoroughly satisfying.

Loved it. Read it twice. Fascinating book. I particularly liked the juncture position of the golem/artificial intelligence storyline. Definitely recommend.

I really enjoyed his book.... interesting ideas explored and with the advent of AI in many different roles it is more pertinent than ever..... Marge Piercy explores conscious AI life and what this could mean. Definitely recommend.